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"Retail Garden Plants Intended To Draw Bees May Harm Them"

"Well-meaning home gardeners who buy plants to attract pollinators might be harming honeybees, according to a study that an environmental group released Wednesday."

"The Pesticide Research Institute found that seven of 13 types of garden plants purchased at top retailers contained neurotoxic pesticides that could harm or kill bees and other pollinators.

Researchers looked for the presence of such pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, in plants at garden centers in Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area and Minneapolis. The study was co-authored by the Pesticide Research Institute and the environmental organization Friends of the Earth.

It found neonicotinoids in more than half the bedding plants, tomatoes and squash, said the lead author of the report, Susan Kegley, a California beekeeper who’s the CEO of Pesticide Research Institute."